Breast feeding Assignment 5

I decided to complete assignment number five which regarded breastfeeding and cultures views on it. I found out that in America breastfeeding is seen as Taboo, therefore forcing some women to abstain from practicing it. Breastfeeding provides load of  benefits for both the mother and the child. The breast milk carries antibodies that help fight disease. If a mother breastfeeds she reduces her chances of breast cancer and type  2 diabetes. Some people might say that their children are smart because they have been breastfeed.

In African countries as well as Asian countries such as Kenya and Sri Lanka is a must. For women in Africa is a mother does not breastfeed she is looked down upon, and if her baby is crying in public and the mother does not stop to sooth the baby people will assume that the baby is not hers and she has stolen it. In some African cultures if a infant becomes motherless at birth then the responsibility of nursing is passed on to a relative and she will re-lactate to do so.
In Sri Lanka a nursing mother is seen as a Goddess and breastfeeding is important to there religious practice. The breast of a women is a symbol of fertility and bounty. So needless to say people around the world have a different take on breastfeeding than we do in America and to expose your breast in public is not uncommon.


Statistics show that 70% of women initiate breastfeeding at birth, 30% breastfeed at 6months and 17% breastfeed up until 12months, the low percentage could have something to do about what our culture views as culturally acceptable.


Breastfeeding in America